Many vehicles include on-board navigation systems that are integrated into a computing system of the vehicle and communicatively coupled to a location-determining receiver (e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver) included in the vehicle. Such on-board navigation systems are designed to use GPS or other satellite data to determine a current vehicle location, generate route guidance information for a destination, and display the current location, route guidance information, and associated map data on a display screen of the vehicle.
For vehicles that do not include built-in or on-board navigation capability, navigation functions can still be obtained while operating the vehicle by using, for example, personal navigation devices (e.g., dedicated GPS devices manufactured by TomTom®, Garmin®, Magellan®, etc.) that can be added to the vehicle after-market, or personal mobile devices equipped with navigation capability (e.g., a GPS-enabled smartphone with a mapping application). Typically, these personal devices include a location-determining receiver for obtaining GPS data and a display screen for displaying route guidance information and map data.
However, in some environments, such as, for example, an urban canyon or other setting in which tall structures flank both sides of a street, traditional GPS-guided navigation may not be reliable due to multipath interference, poor communication performance, and other satellite connectivity issues. In such cases, a GPS system may not be able to accurately detect a vehicle's location or the distance to an intersection.
Also, despite the above options, some vehicles have no navigation capability, on-board, built-in, add-on, handheld, or otherwise. In such cases, the vehicle operator cannot obtain navigation help while traveling on the road, for example, once plans change mid-route, the driver has lost his/her way, or road closures force the vehicle into an alternate route.
Accordingly, there is still a need in the art for a vehicle navigation system that can reliably provide accurate navigation guidance without relying on conventional navigation systems.